


Game On

by ABrighterDarkness



Series: OYL Bingo [19]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Awesome Natasha Romanov, Awkward Flirting, Bets & Wagers, Card Games, Challenges, Dare, Established Relationship, M/M, Mutual Pining, POV Bucky Barnes, Pining, Pre-Relationship, Strip Poker, Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:33:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24150616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ABrighterDarkness/pseuds/ABrighterDarkness
Summary: “Let’s make it interesting,” Tony interjected. At three curious glances, he smirked. “Two words. Strip. Poker.”It was obvious from his expression that Tony thought that Steve would back down.  Bucky supposed considering the fairly conservative front that Steve tended to put up, more of a defensive measure than anything he was sure, that Tony’s assumption might be logical.  Wrong. Very, very wrong. But logical.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Sam Wilson
Series: OYL Bingo [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1567447
Comments: 17
Kudos: 145
Collections: On Your Left - SamSteve Bingo





	Game On

**Author's Note:**

> Written for On Your Left Bingo square Strip Poker
> 
> First off, _huge_ thank you to TedraKitty for helping me brainstorm this one out!! Also, I know next to nothing about Poker. I've had several people try to teach me but the concept evades me every time but I did my best with this one XD. Hopefully, it's not too terribly painful to read for those of you that actually know something about it.
> 
> Anyway, hope that you enjoy!

Bucky really wasn’t sure whether he was amused or annoyed. He figured it was some odd, twisted up mixture of the two. But when he had accepted Tony’s invitation to head out for lunch with Sam and Steve, he had known he was going to be stuck playing witness to the pitiful dance-around those two had been doing for months. 

On one hand, Bucky couldn’t help but find some entertainment value in watching Steve squirm. It had been a joy for him since they were kids and the novelty of it definitely hadn’t faded over the years. On the other hand, though, it was almost painful to watch the flirting-that-wasn’t-flirting. 

But then, Bucky started noticing that their waitress had been lingering at their table, longer each time. It was only when he caught Sam’s eyes narrowing just slightly and Steve squirming uncomfortably in his chair, face covered in a familiar cherry-red blush, that it fully registered that the girl was, very blatantly, hitting on Steve. 

He almost said something, a little quippy remark to watch Steve fluster further and then Tony nudged him in the side with his elbow. Bucky blinked in surprise at how close the man was sitting. When Bucky settled his surprise and glanced over with a curious frown, Tony shook his head almost imperceptibly and smirked.

“Let it play out,” he said quietly. “I’m curious.”

The next time the waitress headed in the direction of their table, Sam not-so-subtly draped his arm across the back of Steve’s chair. Steve didn’t even seem to pause to consider it, automatically leaning into the touch. The blatant possessiveness of the gesture between two pining idiots made Bucky want to simultaneously smirk in amusement and roll his eyes in pure exasperation.

It did give him ideas though. If he had to watch them be pitiful together, he could at least get some real entertainment out of it.

“Hey Stevie,” Bucky drawled out thoughtfully. “Know what we’ve not done in a while?”

“Plenty of things,” Steve said blandly.

Bucky snorted and shook his head, “Haven’t kicked your ass at cards in a couple years.”

Steve met his eyes evenly, a small smirk that was somewhere between knowing and suspicion curling over his expression, “No, you sure haven’t.”

“I wondered,” Tony grinned. “All those times we tried to get you to play with the team and you always turned us down.” He shot Bucky a glance, “Is he really that bad?”

“Depends on who he partners up with,” Bucky smirked. Steve dropped his eyes to his plate, suddenly finding what remained of his fries incredibly interesting. “The Howlies always had a hell of a time when they roped him into playing.”

“Oh this I’ve  _ got _ to see,” Sam interjected, grinning at the look Steve shot him. “It’s his face, isn’t it?”

“My face?” Steve repeated.

“Yeah, that thing on the front of your head that talks without you having to open your mouth,” Sam teased.

“It’s definitely the lack of poker-face,” Tony insisted in amusement. “I’m with Wilson. This is something I’ve got to see.”

Steve sat back in his seat, though Bucky noted that he adjusted his posture just enough to keep from dislodging Sam’s arm, and tilted his head in a way that Bucky could recall seeing in decades’ worth of memories. Oh, this was getting more interesting by the minute and Bucky hadn’t had to do any of the heavy lifting. They didn’t realize it yet, but Sam and Tony just issued a challenge. Steve Rogers always had struggled with backing down from challenges. 

“Alright,” Steve said, tone carefully neutral. “Let’s do it then.”

“What’re the stakes?” Sam asked almost warily. Ah, so Sam had gotten familiar with that particular posture and tone, too.

“Let’s make it interesting,” Tony interjected. At three curious glances, he smirked. “Two words. Strip. Poker.”

It was obvious from his expression that Tony thought that Steve would back down. Bucky supposed considering the fairly conservative front that Steve tended to put up, more of a defensive measure than anything he was sure, that Tony’s assumption might be logical. Wrong. Very, very wrong. But logical.

Steve’s eyes strayed to meet Sam’s briefly, were it anyone else Bucky might have thought that he was asking permission. But considering this was Steve even the concept was fairly absurd. Sam just arched his brows daringly. Steve huffed a low laugh and then shrugged, “I’m in.”

“We’ll do teams,” Bucky said decisively, tapping his fingertips against the tabletop thoughtfully, smirking when Steve shifted slightly in his seat.

Tony hummed and eyed the three other men for a moment before zeroing in on Sam. “Wilson? Up for helping me cost these guys a couple layers?”

Sam grinned and plucked at Steve’s t-shirt still under his hand, “Easy money, Stark.”

“Sure you wanna do that?” Steve asked, eyeing Sam speculatively. 

“It’s about time I get the chance to show you up,” Sam said.

Steve met Bucky’s game again and smirked knowingly, “Looks like we need to prepare ourselves to lose, Buck.”

“Looks that way, doesn’t it?” Bucky said dryly. 

“When are we doing this, then?” Steve asked, turning his attention back to Tony.

“Why wait?” Tony shrugged. “The team’s out on their own stuff today and we can take it to the penthouse so we’re not interrupted.”

“Works for me,” Steve agreed and then turned to wave down the waitress for the check only to grimace and quickly drop his hand back into his lap. Obviously the conversation had temporarily distracted him from the reason Sam’s arm was still draped around him. He cleared his throat awkwardly and reluctantly caught her eye but happily let Sam take over when she approached the table.

It took them less than an hour for the four of them to regather in the penthouse. Tony was already setting up the game on the table when Sam and Steve wandered in after a quick detour to Steve’s apartment. They didn’t look ruffled up any so Bucky couldn’t begin to guess what sort of awkward pining-idiot routine they got up to.

When Steve quickly jumped into helping Tony with setup Bucky caught Sam’s attention and nodded to the kitchen. They worked in an easy tandem as they gathered snacks and drinks to tide them over for however long this game would stretch. Bucky tilted his head to study Sam consideringly.

“What’s on your mind, Barnes?” Sam asked without looking up from his task.

Bucky was silent a moment longer before speaking. “What do you say we make this a little more interesting? Up the stakes.”

“You mean you want to lose a side bet in addition to losing your clothes?” Sam smirked.

“Sure,” Bucky shrugged.

“Alright,” Sam laughed. “What’ve you got in mind?”

“You lose more than half your clothes tonight you’ve got two options,” Buckky said slowly. 

“Which would be?” Sam prompted.

“Either you stick to Steve’s side like you’re attached for a week,” Bucky said. “Which shouldn’t be too hard for you considering you seem to like to do that anyway.” He smirked at the slightly embarrassed hand-in-the-cookie-jar eyeroll Sam shot him at that. “Or you avoid him like he’s contagious for a week. Your call.”

“Okay, say I accept that,” Sam said consideringly. “What’s the stake when Stark and I win?”

“You get to see Steve Rogers in his birthday suit,” Bucky smirked.

“You said this was supposed to be a side bet,” Sam pointed out, carefully sidestepping Bucky’s comment. “Alright. Same thing then, you lose more than half of what you’re wearing now you’re Stark’s shadow for a week or you’re a ghost.”

Bucky considered it. It wouldn’t be the first time that he had been something of a ghost. And it wasn’t like Tony didn’t seem agreeable when Bucky showed up randomly in his lab anymore. Which meant that both options were something that he was capable of managing. And if it got those two idiots to stop with the mooneyes...Bucky shrugged, “Deal.”

They gathered the accumulated stash of drinks and snacks and returned to the other room. Since he was leading the way, Bucky caught the tail end of a hushed conversation and challenging smirks shared between Steve and Tony. He resisted the urge to shake his head in amusement. The game hadn’t even started and things were already getting interesting.

Tony dealt first, which was just as well. It gave Bucky and Steve the opportunity to set a baseline. Steve stared at the cards in his hand with a thoughtful frown and tapped his fingers against the table top in an idle pattern. Bucky didn’t bother looking up. This was old hat for them. Bucky shifted slightly in his seat and the tapping stopped.

Bucky may or may not have ‘forgotten’ to mention just _ why  _ the Howlies had such a hell of a time when Steve played with them. It wasn’t because he generally lost. Even before the serum and the Howlies, Steve had managed to become something of a card shark, the serum just improved his skills.

They easily conceded the first three hands and gamely tossed their shoes and socks, and then their t-shirts aside into what would eventually be a mismatched pile of clothing. Thankfully, they were both still in the habit of wearing undershirts, so they could afford the loss. Bucky could almost feel the palpable smugness radiating off of Sam and Tony by then, just three hands in.

Steve glared at the next hand and ran his free hand through his hair with a muffled sigh and Bucky actually had to work to keep his smirk from working its way onto his face at that. He almost,  _ almost, _ felt a little guilty when he caught Sam and Tony eyeing Steve and then exchanging pointed looks from the corner of his eye. Because  _ that _ was his favorite signal. 

They won the next four hands even more decisively than the many, many wins that he and Steve had teamed up against the Howlies for. It was a struggle to keep his expression neutral in the face of it but both he and Steve managed to keep it toned down to something more smug and less knowing. No need to give the game away just yet.

He didn’t bother trying to hide his eye roll at Steve’s distraction each time that Sam had been required to shed another article of clothing. He was curious though to know why Steve’s wandering gaze suddenly snapped up to meet Tony’s smug, knowing ones though. 

Speaking of Tony...Nope, Bucky swallowed thickly and resolutely forced his eyes away from skin and back onto grabbing up the drink he’d poured himself half-way through the last hand.

They called a break then. Sam took off to the restroom while Tony trailed into the kitchen. Bucky narrowed his eyes suspiciously when Steve leaned forward against the table with a mischievous smirk. 

“Hey Buck,” he said slyly.

“Why do I already feel like I’m going to regret this conversation?” Bucky sighed.

“I just thought it might be interesting to up the stakes a bit,” Steve challenged.

And okay, so the whole damned world knew that Steve couldn’t resist a challenge. Unfortunately for Bucky, Steve was the only one left in the world that knew that Bucky was no better. “What’ve you got in mind?” Bucky asked cautiously.

“If they catch on to us,” Steve said, head tilting toward the direction Sam and Tony had gone, “You dip Tony the way you used to do the dames back in the day.”

Bucky was relieved that decades under HYDRA control had eliminated whatever predisposition he might have once had for blushing. He arched a brow and leaned back in his chair, arms crossed in front of him. “On the off chance that they catch us, you want me to kiss Tony?” he asked in clarification.

“God knows you’ll never get the nerve to do it yourself,” Steve snarked.

“That’s rich coming from you Punk,” Bucky said with a disbelieving chuckle though Steve only looked faintly amused by the comment. “But yeah. Sure. I’m in.” He couldn’t help the sense of satisfaction when a slight hint of wariness showed around the edges of Steve’s smug smirk. “In the much more likely case that we get through this whole thing with neither of them being any the wiser, though, I want to see you waiting on Wilson hand and foot for the next week.” 

The thought amused Bucky more than it probably should. It would be interesting to watch Sam glued to Steve’s side for a week while Steve tried his damnedest to do every little thing that Sam could possibly want. There was potential for some real entertainment value.

Steve shifted slightly in his seat, turning his head to eye the hallway Sam had disappeared down contemplatively. After a moment, he looked back to Bucky with an odd expression on his face. It was soft? Bucky thought. Affectionate maybe. Dear God this kid was going to drive him nuts if he didn’t get his act together and make his move. He bobbed his head and grinned easily, “Sure thing, Buck.”

Steve settled back into his seat as Tony and then Sam returned to the table, flashing a smile up at Sam when his hand dragged across Steve’s shoulders as he passed. Bucky truly didn’t understand how those two could be so simultaneously obvious and oblivious. Steve, he could understand, the kid never did do very well when feelings required words. But Sam was supposed to be a smart one.

Bucky pushed the thought aside as Steve began to deal the next hand. He grumbled under his breath as he pushed his hair out of his face and tucked it behind his ears and Steve tapped idly against the tabletop again. Okay, they were going to lose another hand. That was fair, no sense in keeping their winning streak and making Sam and Tony suspicious. With anyone else as his partner, Bucky might have been concerned that their previous bets might have tempted Steve to throw the game. Thankfully, he knew from experience that Steve had too much pride in the art of the game to willingly sabotage it.

It was four hands and three wins later, when Sam and Tony were down to just their shorts while Steve and Bucky managed to still have their jeans firmly on, that Bucky caught Tony’s calculating, narrow-eyed stare as it flickered back and forth between him and Steve. Bucky did his best to ignore the look but Steve spoke up.

His brow was furrowed and his expression earnestly sincere, “What’s wrong, Tony?”

“You’re screwing with us right now, aren’t you?” Tony asked suspiciously and Sam’s head snapped up, eyes locking onto Steve probingly.

“No?” Steve said, tilting his head in confusion. Bucky had to admit, Steve could act the sweet and noble thing like he could breathe if he really put his mind to it. If Bucky didn’t know Steve as well as he did and for as long as he had, he might have bought the clueless act. 

“See, you say that,” Tony frowned. “But then that chatty face of yours says one thing while the cards seem to be saying another.”

“It’s just been lucky hands, Tony,” Steve said placatingly. 

Tony hummed disbelievingly but returned his glare to the cards in his hand. Sam’s eyes stayed glued searchingly to Steve’s face for a moment longer and Steve met the attention evenly. And then flushed tellingly when his eyes seemed to automatically stray down over Sam’s chest and arms. Steve cleared his throat quietly and quickly ducked his gaze back to his own cards but Bucky watched Sam’s attention linger a moment longer, not bothering with showing any sort of embarrassment at his own appreciative glances. 

That he and Steve lost that hand too didn’t seem to help settle Tony’s suspicion at all. Steve didn’t bother to try to act the least bit bashful as he stood from his chair and pushed his jeans down over his hips and kicked them off to join the large pile of clothes. Bucky was a bit more discrete, just raising his hips from the seat of his chair and shoving them down before tossing them into the pile.

Steve paused a moment, hands on his hips, and scanned over the rest of them, taking in the very obvious lack of clothing. He smirked cheekily, “Looks like this is the last hand fellas. It’s game over if either of us lose this next one.”

“We should make this last one count then,” Tony said thoughtfully. “Make it interesting.”

“How much more interesting are you hoping to make this?” Sam huffed. 

“Let’s switch up the teams for the final hand,” Tony met Bucky’s stare challengingly and Bucky forced down the urge to wince. Okay, so maybe he and Steve were busted.

“Sam?” Steve prompted meaningfully before Tony could start trying to issue orders.

“Nuh uh, Rogers,” Tony scowled. “I’m not giving you another opportunity to cheat. You and me.”

“We weren’t cheating,” Steve protested. “If you haven’t noticed, Buck and I are missing the same amount as you and Sam.”

“Right,” Tony nodded. “I totally believe you.”

Steve raised his hands, palms out facing Tony, in mock-defeat, “Sure, Tony. You and me.” He subtly flicked his eyes to meet Bucky’s and Bucky tried not to scowl at the smug look that doubled as a reminder. Looked like he was going to be kissing Tony Stark in the near future. Bucky ignored the way that anticipation began to build in the back of his mind at the thought.

It was interesting, Bucky thought, playing against Steve rather than on the same team. They knew each other too well, knew the tells that there was no one else still alive to remember. Tony was a little more difficult to read, too used to masks on entirely too many different platforms. Sam, though, he was an open book as far as Bucky was concerned. 

They’d both lost more than half their clothing, he thought idly. Bucky hoped he read Sam right to know which option of their side bet he would take. Steve liked the man entirely too much for Bucky to have to chase him off at this juncture. 

And then Bucky stared blankly at the spread of cards on the table, unable to register exactly what it was that he was seeing.

“Welp, Wilson, Buckaroo,” Tony grinned smugly. “Looks like you lose. Stip!”

Sam grumbled half-heartedly around a smirk, shoving at Steve’s shoulder in response to his smug grin. Bucky groaned, leaning back into his chair only to blink in surprise when Steve caught Sam’s hand easily and brought it to his lips for an affectionate kiss before lacing their fingers together. There was no hesitation, no bashfulness in the gesture that Bucky could pick up on. Steve seemed perfectly confident and content that he was allowed the familiarity. 

Sam didn’t seem to fluster either. In fact he didn’t look the least bit surprised. He just looked...exasperatedly fond? And they both were looking openly and undeniably smitten. 

What the hell? How the hell had he missed that? 

Bucky glanced sideways to Tony who was curiously watching the interaction as well. Tony met his gaze and smirked somewhat mischievously before shoving at Bucky’s shoulder, similarly to what Sam had done to Steve. It was an ingrained, automatic instinct that had Bucky’s hand snap up, fingers curling around Tony’s wrist and hand, thumb pressing into his palm. 

Thankfully, Bucky was cognizant enough to have kept his grip gentle but now that he had Tony’s hand in his, he honestly wasn’t quite sure what he was supposed to do with it. Never letting go seemed like a perfectly wonderful and simultaneously terrible idea. He wasn’t sure what his expression did just then but Tony’s eyes dropped from his to the table top. Forcing down a wince, Bucky loosened his grip only for Tony’s hand to shift enough to wrap firmly around his own.

Bucky felt vaguely embarrassed that he felt so flustered over the sensation. Why was he getting so fuzzy over Tony Stark holding his hand? What was he, twelve?

“You want’em off you’re going to have to take them,” Sam’s voice interrupted Bucky’s confusion. 

“That’s not how the game works,” Steve grinned slyly, reaching across with his free hand to snap the waistband of Sam’s shorts. “Tony and I won fair and square.”

Sam narrowed his eyes and shot a mock-disgruntled glare at Bucky, “Thought you said he was  _ bad _ at cards.”

“I said that it depended on who he was partnered with,” Bucky smirked, grateful that the conversation was almost enough to distract him from his confusing thoughts. “Not my fault you assumed.”

“So, if you and Steve were to play one on one,” Tony said thoughtfully. “Who would win?”

“Steve,” Bucky said without hesitation. 

“Without cheating,” Sam said with a mild glare in Steve’s direction.

“We weren’t cheating,” Steve insisted. “But still me.”

“You’re telling me,” Tony frowned. “That we just got played.”

“Not my fault you assumed,” Steve smirked, repeating Bucky’s previous words. 

“You did good on the last hand,” Bucky told Tony placatingly.

“Tony and I always worked pretty well together,” Steve agreed. “Should do this again sometime. Me and Tony and You and Sam.”

“I don’t know about that,” Bucky said, eyeing Sam warily. Sam had played a clean game, Bucky could give him that. But when playing against Bucky, Steve and Tony that wasn’t exactly a ringing endorsement.

“Don’t think you could do it?” Steve asked, tilting his head in that entirely too familiar way. Bucky narrowed his eyes and met Steve’s stare evenly.

“Or,” Sam interjected. “And this is just a thought. We could just play singles. Every man for himself.”

Bucky watched Steve’s lips twitch upward in amusement but before either of them could point out the flaw in that logic, Tony did it for them.

“Do you like spending your time in the buff, Wilson?” Tony asked dryly.

“I can hold my own,” Sam insisted. Bucky exchanged glances with Steve and then with Tony. Steve settled back into his seat and brought Sam’s hand back up for another kiss, but this one was bordering on affectionately patronizing and Bucky could see when Sam noticed it. Apparently Bucky and Steve weren’t the only ones that struggled with turning down a challenge. “Oh, it’s on, Rogers. In fact, go on and get dressed so I can kick your ass properly.”

“What? You wanna go no-holds-bars against me, Sam?” Steve grinned and Bucky knew he wasn’t the only one able to hear the anticipation in his voice.

“You bet your ass,” Sam shot back.

Whatever might have come next in the banter--which Bucky still wasn’t entirely sure he was following--was interrupted by the penthouse door opening and familiar footsteps approaching. All four men looked up in time to see Natasha round the corner.

She froze for a moment, eyeing the pile of clothing and then each of them curiously with an arched brow. “Looks like I missed all the fun,” she said in dry amusement, arms crossing under her chest.

Surprisingly, it was Steve that was the first to gather his wits and he just grinned, “We were just talking about going another round. You in?”

“What’s the stakes?” She asked curiously as she approached the table.

Steve smirked, “The usual.”

“Sure,” Natasha agreed easily without asking for further clarification. 

“The usual? Now hold on,” Tony said with an indignant scowl. “You’ve played with Nat before but not us?”

“Put your clothes back on boys,” Natasha interrupted with a wicked smirk, settling back into the chair that Sam had grabbed for her. “Let me show you how it’s done.”

Steve was grinning as he quickly redressed, tossing everyone else's clothes to their respective owners--well almost. Bucky shot Steve an exasperated glare when he realized that Tony was tugging  _ his _ t-shirt over his head rather than his own. 

That grin, though. That grin was disturbing. It was the one that usually seemed to only appear whenever he found a new thrill to satisfy his adrenaline craving. Bucky couldn’t help but be a little concerned by that. A quick glance around the table told him that he wasn’t the only one. 

Steve and Natasha seemed to be the only ones left unaffected.  _ That _ was also concerning, actually.


End file.
